If you are coming up on your last semester or two of college and still feeling unsure about the direction of your future, it may be time to investigate some life lessons. What does that mean? It means that you can learn so much more about the way the world really works by traveling around a bit and visiting other countries and cultures. Not only will you gain some valuable real-world experience, you’ll also be reviewing your own opinions about what matters to you.
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Where to Go
Before you toss a change of clothes and your MP3 player into a backpack, take some quality time to decide which experiences would benefit you the most in your travel. Do you want some serious practice in a new language or will you be focusing on developing your own art? Are there religious or cultural landmarks that you’re curious to explore?
The answers to these questions will help you decide where you want to go. For example, if you’re eager to immerse yourself among French-speaking natives, consider the Canadian province of Quebec. In an emergency situation, you’ll still be able to find people who speak English.
How Much Time
You will also want to establish the length of your travel well before setting out. While you can backpack around Europe, working an odd job or two along the way for cash, it’s still a good idea to have a budget in mind and a trip plan that won’t exhaust your resources.
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Also, if you’re not used to being far from home, you may want to plan a shorter trip or even several jaunts of a week or so, rather than one longer journey. According to this interesting graph, your GPA, race and parental income all may have an effect on how far from home you are studying. If you chose a college in the same state or even city where you grew up, it’s probably unwise to plan a vacation on the other side of the globe.
What You’ll Get out of It
After you’ve done some traveling and experienced other cultures and foreign cities, you will likely have gained some maturity and a better idea of what you want for your future. This will help you fine-tune your plans after graduation, and may even prepare you for extended educational opportunities elsewhere.
Regardless, make the most of your late-college trip and be sure to record your memories in a diary or scrapbook. You’ll want to be able to look back on this period for decades to come.
